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For many, Boxing Day is a bit of a continuation from Christmas Day, sitting around eating, drinking and flicking between TV and Christmas films. Maybe you'll go out for a Boxing Day stroll with your family, or maybe you'll just stay on the sofa playing with your presents. Some of us might even drive to our in-laws' or relatives' for another round of turkey and all the trimmings.
For others, however, Boxing Day means shopping. Elbows-out, take-all-my-money shopping.
And in a classically British move, it also involves a whole lot of queuing - with many even lining up through the night to make sure they get dibs on all the best stuff. People literally queue up for the privilege of spending their own money.
Credit: SWNS
Credit: North News
Today 13.6 million people will buy in stores and a further 9.2 million will shop online, a study by the Centre for Retail Research found.
"People are so desperate to get the best bargains they won't wait until December 27," its director, Professor Joshua Bamfield, said.
Lured in by prices slashed by up to 90 percent, the frenzy is expected to result in the busiest shopping day ever, with predictions of people spending a total of £4.5 billion ($6 billion) - smashing the £2.6bn ($3.4bn) spent on Black Friday and the £1.67bn ($2.2bn) on the last Saturday before Christmas.
It's a baffling phenomenon that completely divides Brits. Some absolutely love a bargain, while others can't fathom getting up so early on Boxing Day just to shop.
If you've just joined the overnight queue for the Boxing Day sales you must urgently re-evaluate your priorities. The question you have to ask yourself is: do you have a life?
- Kevin O'Sullivan (@TVKev) December 25, 2017
more excited for boxing day sales than xmas tbh
- :seedling: (@leloxrn) December 25, 2017
honestly think Boxing Day sales shouldn't be a thing and retail/workers should get more than 1 day off with their families, I'm sure we'd do without shopping for more than one day
- Fran-kincense :christmas_tree: (@touristh1story) December 22, 2017
the funniest part of boxing day sales is that people complain stuff they bought as christmas presents is cheaper ahh yes hun that's a little something we like to call consumerism
- kelly :crescent_moon: (@itsnotkelly) December 24, 2017
Boxing Day sales, happy Christmas to me!:heart_eyes::shopping_bags::shopping_bags:
- kirsty Trant (@kirstytrantX) December 26, 2017
Since Boxing Day sales start tomorrow here are a few rules.
1. Shop online.
The end, don't come in tomorrow and harass me because we don't have your size, go home and spend time with your family.
- Papa Ire (@Papa_Ire) December 25, 2017
Some reckon if you're going to do it, you might as well just do it from the comfort of your own home, and take advantage of the fact that we can just online shop these days.
For many places the Boxing Day hype started at around 9am, but others got ahead and opened earlier. Many Sainsbury's stores were open at 8am today.
Credit: SWNS
But one the British chains most synonymous with the earliest start is, of course, Next - most stores opened at 5am today, so not long after some of us probably went to bed, full of booze, cheese and Christmas cake. At Trinity shopping centre in Leeds, queues even spanned two floors ahead of the Next shop opening at 6am.
Featured Image Credit: SWNS
Topics: Christmas, uk news, Shopping, Retail, News, Boxing Day, sainsbury's
